My son is 18 in three days, which has set me to thinking and dreaming. What a magical crossroads to come to. He still has one year of high school left and the big question that everyone asks him (and us) is “will he go to college”… hard question for a kid who learned his alphabet from letter shaped rocks on a New Zealand coastline and algebra from sorting bugs in South Africa. From the moment he was born, we packed him up and carted him off to surf locations around the globe – a true endless summer – holding school sessions on picnic tables, at the beach, in the car, or in airplanes… I watch fondly as parents proudly post about their kids first day back to school and lament that summer is over – I smile because I know summer is never really over – it is summer somewhere in the world every day of the year!

Did we save for a college fund for our son? No… Have we hired special tutors for bettering his chances for scoring higher on the SATs and ACT? Nope… Have we expounded the virtues of spending a ton of money for further education? Not really…

So, what’s a boy to do? Well, I guess he could LEARN… Learn to cook his own meals and wash his own clothes – learn to manage his time and his finances – learn to read a map – learn a new language (or two) and practice it in residence – learn how to buy a bus ticket in a far away land…

Do I want him to go to college? Yes (I think so…) I don’t really want him to suffer thru more years of algebra or chemistry, but I do want him to be surrounded by other young adults that are THINKING and LEARNING and PLANNING for a better future for themselves and the world. I want him to have a strong foundation of learning and be able to write convincing letters and argue soundly and intelligently his points. I want him to know enough math to manage his finances and not get ripped off by others.

So anyone know of a great little surf school accepting applicants from a mellow member of the endless summer tribe not real keen on algebra?

“Before you try and change the world, let the world change you.” -Semester at Sea Saying

]]>http://www.twobrotherssurf.com/nicasurfblog/?feed=rss2&p=1460The anatomy of a surfing family, waterman marries mountain girl…http://www.twobrotherssurf.com/nicasurfblog/?p=128
http://www.twobrotherssurf.com/nicasurfblog/?p=128#commentsSun, 05 Aug 2012 20:06:39 +0000Nicaragua Surferhttp://www.twobrotherssurf.com/nicasurfblog/?p=128My childhood was split between a tiny rural farming town in Illinois along the banks of the Mississippi River and the foothills of the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. Seemingly, I was an unlikely candidate to marry a thoroughbred waterman and produce two heirs to that surfing legacy that have arguably spent more time in the water during their formative years than on land!

Now I am home in Nicaragua, living once again on a mountain, but this time overlooking one of the prettiest unspoilt stretches of the Pacific and out across gorgeous farming valleys. I really am home.

Some of my best childhood memories are gathering eggs from my grandfathers chickens, my mother and grandmother hanging clothes on the line to dry, collecting smooth river rocks along the Mississippi, hunting for salamanders in mountain streams, and picking loads of berries along the Appalachian trails.

Funny, life takes many turns to leads you back to where you began! After many years of travelling and far flung journeys, I am happily living with my watermen on top of my favorite little mountain in Nicaragua, hanging my clothes on the line to dry, buying eggs from my neighbors, picking fruit from the trees, gathering smooth river rocks along the Pacific coastline. The same as my childhood, only better! My husband’s kisses taste like salt after a morning of surf and my boys’ beds are filled with sand. My simple life in a rural village in Nicaragua, atop a small mountain and overlooking a vast expanse of Pacific with the smell of rice and beans cooking in the kitchen leaves me quite content!

I don’t really send mail in Nicaragua – the post office is this great corner building in RIVAS – an old colonial building with the entrance sliced diagonally across the corner closest to the street, exposing the two foot thick adobe mud walls. Inside its dark and cool with just a small glass case of colorful stamps bearing the images of Nicaraguan birds, and insects and fauna and a dark, worn, wooden counter flanked by numbered post boxes. Our number was 28, the key was on a plastic keychain with an old 50s pinup photo, but it has been years since the box has received any mail. When we first moved to Nicaragua my mother-in-law would send newspaper articles and birthday cards. The boys would receive letters covered in hearts from girls at the school they were no longer attending in the states. I would get postcards from friends travelling other far flung places with postmarks that went back weeks even months. After a couple of years the mail stopped coming or just got more irregular. We stopped checking for mail and we most likely neglected the rent on the box. I should check for mail, maybe there’s something in there waiting to be picked up. There is nothing better than a handwritten note, postmarked from a far-flung location with an exotic stamp!

Surfline wrote an article calling for the best surf of the 2012 season to be found in NICARAGUA! And 4th of July did not disappoint – though we were beginning to wonder… All the models called for an epic southern swell arriving the first week of July with good direction, perfect seconds, and just the right amount of offshore lift from Nicaragua’s ever present offshore winds. What we got in the days proceeding was a lake effect of sorts – in that it was just about as flat as it ever gets in Nicaragua followed by howling offshore winds that produced massive white caps and blown-out waves…

We went to bed to howling winds on July 3rd – with disappointed and equally bummed out Columbian guests who had flown in at the last minute for the predicted swell… We woke very early July 4th with the moon shining bright on the Pacific to very still winds – a perfect light offshore – the howling winds had laid down and let the swell do its thing…

And do its thing it did – Nicaragua does NOT disappoint! Who needs fireworks on the 4th of July when the waves are bombs? Marsh surfed the OUTERREEF with Robert and came away with only a sliced toe, and Auggie initiated local St. Augustine surfer and best buddy Ben Basili to the infamous and firing POPOYO!! It was a good day…

]]>http://www.twobrotherssurf.com/nicasurfblog/?feed=rss2&p=870Father’s Day Surf in Nicaraguahttp://www.twobrotherssurf.com/nicasurfblog/?p=78
http://www.twobrotherssurf.com/nicasurfblog/?p=78#commentsMon, 25 Jun 2012 16:17:20 +0000Nicaragua Surferhttp://www.twobrotherssurf.com/nicasurfblog/?p=78So yesterday was Dia de Padre, Father’s Day in Nicaragua – very close to our own Fathers’s Day in the US last week. We gave our Chef Henry a very badly needed day off since he’s been cooking nonstop for guests at Two Brothers Surf since March – this week has been our first lull. Henry helped me prepare a feast of pizza last weekend for Robert’s celebration of Father’s Day and we wanted him to enjoy the day with his own clan. I think he probably worked on his motorcycle all weekend, because he’s had to huff it up our hill to Casa Loma for the past month on foot. Our grounds keeper Enrique did work for a couple of hours in the morning to pump water from the well on the farm in the valley below to our property and the holding tank on the top of the hill – an almost daily chore when we have guests.

I made sure to wish Enrique a happy fathers day, as he is a somewhat new father, having had his first child just last year. When I wished him a happy day he replied with a comment that translated roughly into something like “Fathers day is the day that the children show happiness to their father” – this sweet man who lives in a very modest home with a clay tiled roof and immaculately clean mud floor, really hit the nail on the head – gift giving in Nicaragua is so simple – you give yourself, your smile, your laughter, your love, your time.

It goes so far beyond the big dollar hallmark holidays where cards cost $5 and roses that normally cost $30/dozen rise to $90/dozen on Mothers Day. Life truly is that simple and I am so happy to live in Nicaragua and be reminded of the small things that really matter and the big things that don’t!

Yesterday Auggie and Robert took the boat out fishing while the rest of the gang and guests surfed via land at Popoyo. Many times the boat trolls for fish, doing double duty while bound for Playgrounds surf break to the north or Colorados surf break to the south – but yesterday the boat went straight out with the intent of bringing back fish – and that they did – an impressive cooler full in less than two hours!

It’s quite possible it took Henry more time to clean and fillet the fish into sashimi, ceviche, and fillets for dinner that it took Robert and Auggie to catch them! We had an amazing dinner with five captains at our table – South African captain Kippa with his lovely partner Katie, St Auggie captain Brian Holloway and his lovely new bride Kelsey, and of course our three resident Two Brothers Surf captains Robert, Marsh and Auggie.

Henry our chef and his chef-in-training younger brother Gerry rocked an amazing meal of cero mackerel that swam in the pacific only hours earlier. Gracias!

]]>http://www.twobrotherssurf.com/nicasurfblog/?feed=rss2&p=650Be a SURF INTERN at Two Brothers Surf Resort, Nicaraguahttp://www.twobrotherssurf.com/nicasurfblog/?p=59
http://www.twobrotherssurf.com/nicasurfblog/?p=59#commentsMon, 08 Nov 2010 14:58:37 +0000Nicaragua Surferhttp://www.twobrotherssurf.com/nicasurfblog/?p=59Two Brothers Surf Resort in Popoyo is looking for qualified surf interns for 2011. If you would like to surf everyday in the warm waters of the Pacific and have a great cultural experience in Nicaragua and you meet the qualifications below, you could be eligible for an opportunity to intern at the illustrious Two Brothers Surf Resort and Lodging!

Requirements:

Surfing and boat skills

Computer skills (marketing, graphics and social media)

Proficient in Spanish Language (at least somewhat!)

Must be good driver and able to drive a stick…

If you are willing to work hard and surf long hours this internship is for you!

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page” Saint Augustine

If you are interested, check out our website at WWW.TwoBrothersSurf.com and call Robert at 904-687-1633

The sun in Nicaragua is intense, and we are living out in it from 6 o’clock in the morning until 6 o’clock at night most days. Being good parents (or so we thought) we have our boys in the habit of putting sunscreen on in the morning when they wake up and brush their teeth. Not just on their face, and not just once, multiple layers and multiple brands. Then last week I saw on CNN that most sunscreens contain hormone-altering chemicals! So quite possibly in an effort to protect our kids from skin cancer we are slathering on them toxic gender-bending chemicals that may, in the long run, actually increase the incidence of cancer!! Not a good thing and it now has me reading labels I should have paid attention to long ago…

No need to rough it, Two Brothers is offering a great Summer Survivor Deal… Come to Nicaragua any time between now and July 14th – rent five nights in one of our fabulous Villas and get TWO nights FREE!! Come now before the new Survivor Series puts Nicaragua on the map for the rest of the world. Starting July 15th, the Survivor crew will start filming season 21 in various remote forests and beaches that border the Pacific coast of Nicaragua near San Juan del Sur. We are located along the SAME coastline that they will be filming on… only a few short kilometers away! Get to know the same beautiful Nicaraguan landscape as the 20 contestants that will compete against one another in a series of “tribal challenges” that will reflect the culture and traditions of this Central American country known for its friendly inhabitants and gorgeous landscape and beaches. Survivor challenge producer John Kirhoffer is quoted as saying “For the 11 years I’ve been doing Survivor, I have never been as excited about spending six months in any other country. Nicaragua’s Pacific is on the top of my list of my favorite places in the world to be.”

Visit us in Nicaragua and see for yourself why Survivor producers Mark Burnett and John Kirhoffer chose this beautiful Latin American country for its 21st and 22nd seasons! Leisa Francis of Survivor says that the production team was impressed by how friendly everyone was here, as well as Nicaragua’s spectacular landscape of volcanoes and “unspoiled coastline.”

hmmm… what better place to watch the first episode of Survivor Nicaragua and a great deal to boot!

www.TwoBrothersSurf.com – MAKE your RESERVATION now! only four villas…